Day 88: My Poor Legs

These legs have been through a lot in the last 5 months...well it will be 5 months in 2 more days.  They are pretty ugly, but really not bad for what they went through.  I have scars from the emergency brake, the dashboard, and many incisisons for rods, plates, screws, and pins...but they're still working and for that I am sooo, sooo blessed!  The black Xs are to mark a couple of the breaks for my bone stimulator.  My PT has taped up my knees to give extra support.  As he explained it, they hurt because the muscles in my quads come back at different times, so the outside ones are stronger right now and pulling my kneecaps.  It's amazing how much the tape helps.  The only downside, I'm allergic to adhesives.  So far I've been lucky with this tape though...just lots of itching, but no breakouts.

Day 87: This Has Got to Stop!!

But I'll keep trying to do better!

Day 86: Thank You!

Today we took the wheelchair back to the hospital.  They loaned it to me until I no longer needed it.  It was an exciting day!  We took these cards along with a couple of veggie trays to the staff at RIO (Rehabilitation Institute of Oregon), where I spent 14 of my 23 nights in the hospital.  They were so excited to see me come in on crutches!  I promised to return when I'm off of the crutches!

Day 85: Darn It!

Day 84: Charburger

Tonight we went for a much needed drive up the Columbia River Gorge with my parents.  We had dinner at our favorite place, the Charburger.  I'm looking forward to many more of these trips as the sun comes out and I can drive again!  The Columbia River Gorge is truly heaven on Earth!

Day 83: Wacky Dress Up Day

Today was Wacky Dress Up Day at school for Kelton.  Rather than wearing their usual "code of dress" they got to dress "wacky."  They each paid $1 to dress up and the money went to their Pennies for Patients fundraiser. 

Day 82: Welcome Spring!

Uh, I think the calendar forgot to tell Mother Nature that it's Spring.  It's March 22nd and it's still snowing!  Not much, but it's so late!

Day 81: Furry Clocks

Another bad picture, but they are so cute.  I think these piggies have clocks in their stomachs.  At 9:30 every night (give or take a few minutes) there is a LOUD squeal that comes from their cage.  That's them telling us that they want their green peppers!  They're so funny.  When I went in to talk to them this is what they looked like.  LOL

Day 80: Grrr!

Day 79: Moving Day!

Today I got rid of the hospital bed!  For the first time in 4 1/2 months, I get to sleep in my own bed!  This is a huge step in the right direction!  I'm so excited!

Day 78: Our Piggies

Theses are our piggies.  Snickers is usually hiding in the barn (as she is in this picture) and Coco is out investigating the food.  They are sweet little ones.

Day 77: Tick-Tock

I don't think this bone stimulating will ever stop!

Day 76: Whose Kid is This?

Kelton loves to make faces...tonight he was trying to make the ugliest one he could.  I think he was successful!  :-)  I'm so blessed with children who are so full of life.  They keep things interesting for me!

Day 75: Here Fishy, Fishy

Tonight we went to one of our local restaurants.  They have this fabulous aquarium.  There's a lionfish, eel, puffer fish, and many other beautiful saltwater fish.  Kelton loves it!

Day 74: My Downfall

I've had a hankering!  I fell in love with this dessert when I lived in the South...and I haven't had them since then.  I don't think anyone here has even heard of these, but I blame them for all the weight I put on when I was pregnant!  LOL  These are chess squares...they are rich, sweet, and absolutely heavenly!  I made some today...I just couldn't take it anymore.  As difficult as it is for me to do anything in the kitchen these days, you know that it had to be a really bad hankering!  YUM!

Day 73: My Furry Baby

This is truly a horrible picture, but we have a very hard time photographing our dog.  She hates cameras and runs from them!  Anyway, she's a complete mess here, but this is one of the best dogs this world has ever seen.  Tonight she is laying with Kelton, on the couch.  He's not feeling so well.  She always takes such good care of "her boy."  She always has, since he was a baby.

Day 72: Frustrated

I'm frustrated with myself that I've missed so many days, but I'll keep on plugging away and take pictures when I do remember to!  At least I've done better than last year!

Day 71: Spring Ahead!

It's time to change the clocks for daylight savings!  We're headed to bed extra early tonight since it's swim meet weekend AND there's a time change!  Ugh!  That makes for an extra early morning!

Day 70: :-(

Day 69: Artsy!

My kids had to draw a picture that reflected one of their songs for piano.  This was Sadie's drawing for "River Flows In You."  I'm thinking she may have gotten some of her drawing abilities from her daddy...certainly not from me!

Day 68: New Game

I bought this game for my kids for Christmas.  We finally played it for the first time tonight.  It's a blast!

Day 67: Hello, My Name is DeeDee...

I am a Pinterest addict.  I think there must be some kind of 12-step program for this.  I love this site!  It is my go-to thing when I'm bored.  Hmmm...I seem to be on there a lot these days.  :-)

Day 66: Band Concert

Tonight Sadie had a band concert.  This is her second year of flute.  She's doing so well...and the band is sounding GREAT!

Day 65: Millionaire

I nearly forgot to take a picture again, so this is what you get.  I was watching Who Wants to be a Millionaire as I headed off to sleep.  I love this show.

Day 64: This is Happening Way Too Often!

I forgot again!  I am so ashamed of myself.  I have got to do a better job at this.  My friends are all showing me up!

Day 63: Playing With Opa

I looked out the back door and this is what I saw, Kelton outside playing basketball with Opa.  It's nice that they share a special bond.

Day 62: I Love This Girl

I am so blessed!

Day 61: Isn't is March?

I took this in the wee hours of the morning today!  I can't believe that it snowed!  Just a little, but it's getting a bit late for that!

Day 60: A Bunch of Nuts

Yes, every family has them!  :-)  This is my mother and my children.  What a bunch of silliness!  I think this is what an extra day in the year does to you...yep, today is Leap Day!

Day 59: This is Becoming a Habit

A very bad habit!  :-(

Day 58: Not Again!

Yes, again!

Day 57: Ultrasound = Ultra Boring

This picture is appropriate because I do this for 2 hours every day!  Ugh!  This is me, using my bone stimulator on my tibia.  This little machine releases ultrasound into my bones to try to stimulate the cells to produce new bone.  The black X on my leg marks the fibula break.  Nice scars, eh?

Day 56: Oops, I Did It Again

Me and Brittany Spears, huh?  I guess "I didn't do it again" would be more appropriate.  Darn it!  I've been doing so well and now I've forgotten to take a picture twice!  Grrr!

Day 55: Take My Picture!

Tonight I was entertaining a friend's son at the pool.  These are the only pictures I took today.  This little guy is such an adorable goofball.  This picture is a perfect capture of his personality. 

Day 54: Always Start Your Day with a Smile!

Kelton put together his own breakfast this morning.  This is what we got!  He's such a funny boy!

Day 53: School Calendars

This is what I've been doing tonight...yes, I'm starting to count down the days until school is out for summer vacation!  I can't wait to have the kids around so we can go do fun things!

Day 52: It's All in How You See It

This is a sad, sad picture.  It is the ceiling above my hospital bed in my dining room.  Sad, eh?  I was already in bed when I realized I had forgotten to take a picture.  This is what I look at a lot, so that's what you get.  It's actually kind of fun...ever since the kids were little, we look for pictures in it (kind of like pictures in the clouds).  What can you see here?

Day 51: Oops!

I forgot to take a picture!  Boo Hoo!

Day 50: OSI 10 & U Championships (Day 2)

This is Kelton with all of his winnings.  He won 2 medals (25 & 50 Backstroke) and 4 ribbons (25 Freestyle, 50 Freestyle, 25 Butterfly, & 50 Butterfly.  The following statistics are his placements in the State of Oregon for 2012 Short Course Season (all were 8 & Under events) and his times:

25 Backstroke - 8th (tied) (20.48 seconds)
50 Backstroke -  7th (43.57 seconds)
25 Freestyle - 9th (16.89 seconds)
50 Freestyle -  10th (37.58 seconds)
25 Butterfly - 10th (19.63 seconds)
50 Butterfly - 16th  (48.83 seconds)

He also qualified in the 50 Breaststroke and 100 IM, but did not swim those due to Championship limitations.

Day 49: OSI 10 & U Championships (Day 1)

This is Kelton (in the red splatter-painted suit), diving in for the 50 yard Butterfly.  He also swam the 50 Backstroke today.  We are so proud of him.  In the 50 Butterfly he placed 16th (48.86 seconds) in the state and in the 50 Backstroke he placed 7th (43.57 seconds)!  *For those who don't know, a 50 is down and back in a standard 25 yard pool.*

Day 48: Resting Up

We got all settled in at the hotel, in Springfield.  The next two days, Kelton will be swimming in the OSI 10& Under Championships.  He qualified in 8 events, but is only allowed to swim in 6.  He'll swim two events on Saturday and four events on Sunday.

Day 47: Guardians

This is the book that Kelton and I are currently reading.  I think he's more into it than I am, but that's ok.  I liked the movie better.

Day 46: Good Luck Kelton!

This weekend, Kelton will swim in the Oregon State Short Course Championships.  He qualified in eight events, but will only be able to swim in six events, as that is the maximum allowed.  It has become a tradition for me to make giant chocolate chip cookies for the team before the championship, so tonight we will celebrate with Kelton and the other kids at the pool.  The cookie on the left has the outline of Oregon with the logo of our aquatic club.  The other is Kelton diving into a race! 

Day 45: Puff

This is our new friend, Puff.  He came to live at our house today.  You saw how bad my vaporizer looked the other day.  Well, I decided that it was time to break down and buy the one that my kids have been wanting.  Hopefully he'll work as well as the other vaporizer did in the past.  Puff is a cool mist humidifier, which we've never used.  He doesn't steam up the house so much...I just hope he'll do the job.

Day 44: His Father's Son

Today we got to go to the doctor to get Kelton's lungs checked out.  I know you'd never guess by looking at this picture, but this boy was not feeling well.  Anyway, what better way to entertain yourself while waiting for the doctor than to make faces at yourself in the mirror?  Now, if you knew my husband, you'd know that he was hilarious.  Kelton reminds me so much of him.  I'm so grateful!  This child has kept me laughing in the years since we lost his daddy.  I so wish Kelton would have known him (he died when Kelton was 5 months old).  Kelton is a spitting image of him. 

Anyway, the lungs...due to Kelton's slight asthma & tracheomalacia, he is susceptible to any "bugs" that come around.  Every year he ends up sick...for most of the winter.  We've done it every year.  Could this year be any different?  NO!  The verdict, a respiratory infection (upper & lower).  Thank goodness we caught it before it went into walking pneumonia this time.  So, antibiotics, inhalers, breathing treatments, and predisone...here we come! :-(

Day 43: My Poor Sick Boy

Kelton's cough was sounding better, so I let him go swim in his swim meet today.  On the way home, he started BARKING again!  UGH!  Back to the couch with a bowl (in case he coughs too hard) and the vaporizer.  The vaporizer looks like it's seen better days...and looks like it's made my wall see better days too.

Day 42: It Must be Winter

It's that time of year...Kelton gets sick, we run the vaporizer, and our windows are fogged up constantly.  This is what my windows looked like tonight at bedtime.  Poor kid...if only he had lungs that were healthy.  Most people's homes are humid in the summer.  Ours is humid all winter!

Day 41: A Girl's Best Friend?

This is my new favorite game.  I just love to play it.  It is a great way to entertain myself while I'm sitting around with my bone stimulator running.  The only problem is that I have trouble tearing myself away from it!



Day 40: A Sign of Things to Come?

Looks like someone's getting sick.  This child is never cold, but tonight he came out bundled up and telling me he was cold.  Uh oh...looks like there could be some fun in our future!

Day 39: Talk to Me

Conversation hearts...one of the best things about Valentine's Day.  I just love these things!  Tonight I was having a little too much fun with them.  :-)  Sadie and I were cracking each other up while having a conversation we would randomly stop and pull one out and read it.  It made our conversation very funny!